Circulating system for material treating



Jan. 79 lf H. s. DRUM UAL 2,227,925

GIRCULATING SYSTEM FOPw MATERIAL TREATING Filed June 8, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheetl l Jan. 7, 194i. H. s. DRUM ET AL 2,227,926

CIRCULATING SYSTEM FOR MATERIAL TREATING Filed June e, 195g 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Jan. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT 4ori-ica CIRCULATING SYSTEM FOR. MATERIAL TREATING Application June 8, 19348, Serial No. 212,432 2 claims. (c1. ca -189) The present invention relates to machines for the liquid treatment of bobbins or packages of yarn and more particularly to an improved machine for automatically controlling the circulation of treating liquid.

In the treatment of yarn in bobbin or package form such as dyeing, chemical treatment, washing or any other use of liquid, it has heretofore been the practice to circulate the liquid, whatever its character, through the package, such circulation being from the outside of the package to the inside thereof, and then in the reverse direction. The control for the circulation was originally by the 'use of a manual valve mechanism, in itself complicated and cumbersome, but not nearly as involved as the succeeding mechanical valve control for automatically changing the direction of liquid circulation. While the automatic control relieves the operator of maintaining constant attention and in someinstances is an improvement over hand valves it has been foun'd that the cost of manufacture, repairs incident to valve trouble, and failure to function properly, have to some considerable extent offset the advantages of automatic control.

Some of the objects of the present invention therefore are to provide an improved liquid circulating means for packages or bobbins of yarn to be treated in a machine for dyeing, washing or any other liquid treatment; to provide a machine for automatically controlling the circulation of a treating liquid without` employing valves for changing the direction of such circulation; to provide a novel pump control mechanism for varying the direction of circulation of a liquid in a machine for dyeing, washing or otherwise treating yarn or thread in bobbin or package form; to provide a novel pump control mecha- 40 nism in combination with a timing device wherein a circulation of liquid can be reversed as to direction according to requirements and wherein direction control valves are eliminated; and

to provide other improvements as will herein- 40 after appear.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 repre- Cil Cil

sents a perspective of a yarn package treating" machine having a liquid circulating system ernbodying one form of the present invention, the 50 treating'vat being partly broken away for better illustration; Fig. 2 represents a sectional elevation of one of the liquid distributing boxes; Fig. 3 is a diagram of the :associated electrical control circuits; Fig. 4 represents a diagrammatic 55 plan of a liquid circulating system for material treating vats embodying a modif-led form of the invention; and Fig., 5 represents a detail in side elevation showing the cam controlled contact closure.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Figures 1 to 3, one form of the invention is shown in association with a treating vat I0 of the type to receive a bobbin or package carrier II, and operating in conjunction with an expansion tank' I2. This latter also serves as a m mixing receptacle for dye or other treating liquid. A closureV I3 allows unrestricted access to the interior of the vat when necessary and also seals the vat I0 during treating operations. The package carrier II is so constructed and arranged in tubular form as to have communication with the interior of each bobbin or package mounted thereon and therefore if liquid enters the carrier first it passes outwardly throughithe packages, but if the liquid enters thyat IIVfirst it passes inwardly through the packages to discharge from the carrier. To accomplish this a pipe I enters the vat I0 to communicate with the interior of the carrier I I, while a second pipe I5 enters the vat IIl` to communicate with the interior thereof. By reversing the direction of the flow through these pipes I4 and I5 the desired control of circulation through the packages can be obtained. 3G

One form of circulation control consists of an electric motor I6 which is direct connected to a liquid pump I1 of the rotary reversible type having two conduits I8 and 20 communicating respectively with two distributing boxes 2I`and 22. The opposite sides of the boxes 2| and 22 connect the pipes I4 and I5 respectively .for"communication with the interiors of these boxes.

`These distributing boxes 2| and 22 are alike in construction consisting of a casing having a' transverse partition 23 which provides an inlet chamber 24 in the upper portion of the casing and a distributing chamber 25 in the lower portion thereof. A check valve 26 is located in the partition 23 to open towards the distributing chamber 25 so that gravity flow of liquid can take place by way of pipe 2'I to the chamber 25. The pipe 21 forms a communication between the expansion tank I2 and the chamber 24. With liquid under pressure in the chamber 25, from the operation of the pump I1, the check valve 26 automatically closes as will be understood. A relief valve 28 is also provided in the partition 23 to be normally held closed by a coil spring 29 compressed a predetermined amount by anadjustable threaded rod 30. Thus any abnormal 55 pressure in the chamber 25 will cause the valve 2l to open and relieve the excessive pressure. As shown each chamber 24 has free communication with the expansion tank I2 by way of the pipe 21 and liquid is supplied according to which distributing box is subject to the pump suction. Preferably a strainer 3| is located in the distributing chamber 25 of each box between the pipes leading respectively to the vat and the pump.

In order to maintain the treating liquid at a proper working temperature, if necessary, the two pipes I4 and I5 are respectively provided with jackets 32 and 33 which are arranged to receive a heating medium supplied through the pipe 34.

In order to control the pump I1 so that it automatically causes a reversal of the circulation, the motor I5 is a reversing one and is ineluded in electrical circuits responsive to the selective action of an electrically operated timer 35 in association with a multi-pole solenoid switch 35 having coils 81 and 38 for respectively con trolling the forward and reverse operation of the motor I6. The motor circuits are conventional for a reversible motor while the timer 35 may be of any well known type capable of being set for required cycles of operation. The timer here used is of the type shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,655,815. For example the timer 35 can be set to cause the treating liquid to circulate in one direction for, say, two minutes, and then in the opposite direction for, say, three minutes. This is an arbitrary selection since the timer is capable of a wide variation of control to carry out the function of the present invention. The reversal of iiow takes place through the selection of one or the other control circuit by two contactors 40 and 4| forming terminals respectively of two control circuits and are arranged to engage a contact 42 common to the aforesaid two circuits. Suitable control cams (not shown) are carried by a shaft of the timer 35 for selectively actuating the contactors 40 and 4|.

With the timer 35 set as required, and the aP- paratus ready to operate, the starting switch 45 may be closed with the result that the timer 25 causes the solenoid switch 36 to shift and thereby close the motor circuit so that the pump I1 is driven in the direction to draw treating liquid by way oi' pipe 21 from tank I2 to box 2| thence through pipe I8, pump I1, pipe 20, box 22, and pipe I5 to the vat I0 and through the packages to pipe I4, and return to box 2|. When the timer 35 shifts the switch 36 to its other position the motor circuit is reversed, -thereby reversing the pump |1 to cause the treating liquid to ow in the opposite direction through the cycle just described. When either of the distributing boxes 2| or 22 is on the suction side of the pump I1 i-ts check valve 26 will be open, but when on the discharge side such check valve 25 will beheld closed by the pressure to prevent the treating liquid being pumped into the expansion tank instead of into the vat I 0.

In connection with the timing device it should be noted that this is initially set so that the flow always takes place in the rst instance from the outside of the package to the inside thereof, then after a predetermined interval. changing to ow from the inside to the outside of the package and thereafter alternating until the treatment is completed. At the end of the treatment the timing mechanism automatically resets so that at the start oi a new group of packages the ow will be as above described from the outside of the packages to the inside thereof. This control of the timing mechanism is carried out through the operation of a cam 39 having a control slot 49 into which the end of a contactor 44 is arranged to drop at the end of a treating cycle to thereby break with a. contact 45 and open the operating circuit of the timer. The cam 39 is fast to a shaft 12 driven at a predetermined speed by the timer 35, this speed being such that for one revolution of the cam 39 a complete treating cycle takes place. It will be noted that the face of the cam 99 maintains the timer circuit closed until the slot 49 again registers with the contactor 44 and allows the latter to drop to break the operating circuit. Thus with the timer 35 set to start a liquid circulation through the yarn packages from the outside to the inside, the timer circuit is closed by manually pressing the starting switch button and the shaft 12 thereupon turns the cam 99 to bring contactor 44 against contact 45 to maintain the operating circuit closed for one revolution. During this operation the direction of the circulation is changed automatically according to requirements but at the end of one revolution the timing control is back to its initial position and stops there when the contactor 44 drops into the slot 49, therefore whenever the starting circuit is again closed the circulation is in the proper direction, namely from the outside to the inside of the packages.

It should also be noted that by the use of the novel reversing pump form of the invention full pressure of treating liquid in one direction to full pressure condition in the opposite direction can be obtained in a maximum of a very few minutes. This is due to the fact that the time lag of valve movement is entirely eliminated.

Illuminated signals 46 and 41 are arranged in the respective control circuits to indicate the direction in which the treating liquid is travelling through the packages.

In the modication of the invention shown in Figure 4, the vat I and'expansion tank I2 with associated parts are similar to the arrangement in Figure 1 except that in the present arrangement the pipe I4 communicates with the discharge side of a pump 50 while the pipe I5 communicates with the discharge side of a pump These pumps 50 and 5| are ordinary type rotary pumps and are arranged so that the inlet side of the two pumps communicates with a common manifold 52. The pump 50 is independently driven with respect to the pump 5| by means of a driven shaft 53 and the pump 5| is likewise independently driven of the pump 50 by means of a driven shaft 54. Since the conduit 52 joins the intakes of the two pumps, it will be evident that when pump 50 is operating and the pump 5| at rest, the direction of flow of the liquid will be by way of pipe I5 through the pump 5| to conduit 52 and thence through the propelling pump 50 to pipe I4 and back through the tank I0. Likewise when the pump 5| is operating and the pump 50 at rest, the direction of flow of the liquid will be from the tank I0 through the pipe I4, pump 50, conduit 52, through pump 5| to pipe I5 and thence into the tank I0.

For the purpose of selectively operating shafts 53 and 54 a sprocket 55 is fast to the shaft 53 and in mesh with a silent drive chain 56 which is driven by a sprocket 51 on shaft 58 through the medium of a clutch 60. This clutch 50 is a magnetic type of clutch and is driven by an electric motor 5l which is also arranged to drive a like clutch 62 on the shaft 63 which drives the sprocket 64 from which a silent drive chain 65 rotates sprocket 66 to drive the shaft 54 of the pump 5l. An automatic timer 61, such as employed in connection with the circuit of Fig. 3, is arranged to select one or the other of the circuits 68 and 10 which respectively govern the energization of the magnetic clutches 60 and 62. 'Ihe motor circuit 1I is opened and closed by the main hand switch.

It will be evident from Figure 4 that a bidirectional path for liquid ow through the vat l0 is provided in association with a pumping mechanism wherein an automatic device makes a selection of the path of iowaccording to requirements. Thus under one requirement the automatic timer will select the pump for operation and the path oi flow through the vat I0, pipe Il, and pipe I5 will be in one direction, while a selection by the timer of clutch 62 will cause operation of the pump 5| and reverse the direction of ilow through the pipe I4, pipe i5 and vat I0. i

The apparatus is therefore under positive control from a timing device operating at predetermined intervals to reverse the direction of iiow ofthe vtreating liquid and ensure the complete and thorough washing, dyeing or impregnating of the material under treatment. To forestall the disarrangement and opening up oi the bres of the material at the start of any operation, the timing device is so constructed as to start the pumping mechanism in the direction to cause the i'low to initially enter the material from the outside thereof and to leave from the interior thereof.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

automatic means deferring the eiTect of said manual means until the end of said cycle, whereby each renewed circulation after a stoppage begins with a circulation from the outside to the inside of said packages.

2. A circulating system for material treating comprising the combination of a receiving tank for a plurality of yarn packages, a pumping mechi anism arranged for circulating liquid through 20 said packages, a device for causing said pumping mechanism to circulate said liquid from the outside to the inside of said packages for the rst part of a cycle and from the inside to the outside of said packages for the remaining part of said 25 cycle, means including an electrical circuit i'or actuating said device, .a manually operable switch in said circuit, and an automatic switch in said circuit in parallel with said manual switch arranged to open only at the end of a cycle, whereby 3 any cycle is completed after said manual switch is opened and each renewed circulation after a stoppage begins with a circulation from the outside to the inside of said packages.

HARRY S. DRUM. WILLIAM-C. DODSON. WILLIAM H. JAXHEIMER. 

